State Seeks Customers of Shuttered Dealerships
Featured

09 August 2016

The Michigan Secretary of State is looking for the customers of two out-of-business west Michigan auto dealers to ensure they obtain proper title and registration for their vehicles.Some customers of Wayland Motor Sales in Wayland and the Patriot Auto Group, Inc. in Hastings may have been issued improper temporary registrations or license plates as part of their vehicle transactions. Affected consumers risk having their vehicles impounded if stopped by law enforcement.Secretary of state staff investigated both dealers and found a number of significant violations. Secretary of state investigators found that Wayland Motors poorly maintained records and repeatedly failed to apply for title and registration within the required 15 days of vehicle delivery. The licensee allegedly claimed that only four title transactions had not yet been processed but investigators discovered an additional 15 unprocessed tax, title and registration transactions from vehicle sales. The dealer had a former employee pretend to be a representative of Patriot Auto Sales Group, Inc. and purchase temporary registrations for customers. After customers drove off the lot, the dealership never submitted paperwork for them to receive their permanent title documents from the state. During the investigation of Wayland Motor Sales, the licensee for Patriot Auto Sales Group allegedly denied knowing anything about the temporary registration purchases for Wayland Motor customers and submitted a close-out statement for the business. Investigators discovered that the dealership had seven unprocessed sales transactions, leaving customers without proper documentation for their vehicles. The dealer could not provide funds to pay for the tax, title and registration.